Real food and hunger

Well, I made it. I'm back on solid food for the most part. Last night I had dinner with my family and it went well. I'm still not eating slowly enough. I know because I was the first one finished with my dinner. Even though I was trying to chew thoroughly and eat slower. Guess that tells you how fast I was eating before! We had tostadas. I had one with a shell and then not being full yet, I ate an additional portion without the shell. Just beans, cheese, sour cream (light), lettuce and tomato. It was good. I'm still getting used to not drinking with meals. You're not supposed to drink with your food because either you can get full on the liquid or else it could help the food go through the stoma (stomach opening where the band has narrowed it) quicker and you won't be full for as long.

When I saw him for my fill, Dr. Melniczek asked about my hunger. I told him I hadn't really been feeling a lot of hunger. He told my regular physician who was there, that during the surgery he pulls part of the stomach up and over the band. That part of the stomach contains hunger sensors, that react to hunger hormones. Okay, I'm probably totally botching this explanation, but basically, he has a style of installing the band that he believes helps to pretty much eradicate the hunger sensation by moving the portion of the stomach. Since then I have been paying attention and I'll be darned if I really am not experiencing what I would call hunger. I find that I get interested in food about the right time during the day when I should be eating, but out and out hunger I am not experiencing. I know that the journey with the band is ever changing and I'm not taking this lack of hunger for granted. I know things can change from day to day, but for now I am so thankful for this respite from the monster of hunger that has plagued me so much of my life. It makes it so much easier to make good decisions about what is going into my mouth.

I've been sick with a sore throat and cold symptoms, and after my worst sick day the scale showed a 34 pound loss, total. I asked my sister if that's sick to enjoy seeing weight loss when you're sick. Her wise response? That's one of the few things to enjoy about sickness, is the accompanying weight loss. So I'm really about 32 pounds down as of yesterday. Adding solid foods back in might slow this weight loss down. Time will tell!

I went walking for 20 minutes this afternoon. That's all I can handle for now. I'm going to go more often. I haven't been doing enough.

Back from my first fill appointment

I got my fill done this afternoon. It was much worse than I had imagined it would be. He couldn't get the right angle or something and must have stuck me about 10 times. After the first few times, he gave me a shot of lidocaine. That helped, but it was still very uncomfortable. Finally he got it and ended up putting 3 ccs of saline in my 10 cc band. So far I don't feel any different, but all I have consumed is water.

30 pounds and a fill

Well, this morning, the scale read that I've dropped 30 pounds. In just about exactly a month. Wow. I am constantly amazed and grateful.

I'm going in to get my first band adjustment today. They're called fills. It's because the band is filled slightly with saline. A needle is inserted through the skin into the port that is attached to the band. As saline is injected, the band becomes tighter. Dr. Melniczek will be in Goodland and my regular doctor, Dr. Daise, will also be in attendance. He's going to learn how to do an emergency unfill in case I'm ever in need of such. After the fill I am probably going to be on liquids again for a few days and then moving on to more solid foods. It'll be interesting to see how this fill goes. Some people get restriction with one fill, and many more people need several fills to achieve that sweet spot where you're restricted just the right amount.

I'm a loser!

And this time I'm not talking about weight. I woke up yesterday morning, only to realize my wedding ring was not on my hand. I never take it off, except for things like childbirth and surgery, so I knew I hadn't left it somewhere. It had fallen off. When, I didn't know.

We took my bed apart, piece by piece looking for it. Not there. I looked all around the house, to no avail. We had gone to an event at the elementary school the night before, so I made a mental note to call them and have their custodian keep an eye out. I looked in the car, on the floor of the drivers side. At this point I really started to get sad. I was so very sad! I don't think I've felt that sad since my sister was whisked away on an airplane from Goodland to Denver. (Pregnancy complications while visiting me.)

As I do whenever I'm looking for something, I sat down and prayed. I prayed so fervently. This is such a tiny object, but I know that the Lord is mindful of me and knows how important my ring is to me. As I sat in the same spot, after my prayer, Brad came running in from the car. He had found it in Adam's car seat. It must have come off when I put him in there as we were leaving the school. I cried tears of relief. It was truly a dramatic morning. All of this happened in less than an hour. It took me a little while to calm down inside after the whole ordeal was over. I'm so grateful!

My ring is now safely tucked away in my jewelery box. I'm wearing a $10 Walmart ring to keep that place on my finger from being empty. I thought I was jumping the gun to say my ring was too big, but apparently not.

Exercise

We've been trying to go for walks as a family. Yesterday we walked the entire L of our subdivision. It's really the equivalent of walking four blocks. So we're probably up to about 1/2 mile. The girls ride their bikes nearby and Adam's in the stroller. It's fun. I enjoy being out with the family. We need to increase how far we walk. I'm the determining factor in the length of the walk, I guess I should say that I need to increase how far I walk.

I'm down 27 pounds. Thing is, I can't tell much difference. I'm not surprised. I knew it would take a significant amount of weight before I could tell a difference. On the 8th of February I'll take one-month progress pictures. Maybe I'll be able to tell some difference from those. We'll see.

It's supposed to snow today. Yesterday was a record high of 79 degrees and today snow. Crazy weather.

NSV

On the LapBand message boards, they use the term NSV. It stands for a non-scale victory. Things that have nothing to do with the numbers on the scales but are victories for us in our weight loss journeys.

NSVs so far:
non-swollen feet
smaller fingers

Yesterday during Family Home Evening I noticed I was crossing my legs. Now, I still have many pounds to go before crossing my legs becomes super comfortable, but usually crossing my legs is not the most comfortable position, so I don't do it. I had done it without thinking about it yesterday and I was fairly comfortable sitting there.

Also, during the game of "Guess the Animal" I actually got down on the floor and mimicked a kangaroo. My favorite animal to mimic is usually the sloth, that way I didn't have to get up from my chair. So I guess I'm getting some additional energy. At the least, my mindset is changing, from a low-energy, do-as-little-as-possible person to getting involved with life. Step by step, it is coming.

25 on the 25th

Well, my hands fluctuate, so I think I jumped the gun on the declaration that I can't wear my ring on my normal fingers anymore. That particular night my ring was slipping off, but the next day I could wear it on the left hand again. It'll be soon, I'm sure, that I have to deal with that.

As of this morning, I'm down 25 pounds. 25 pounds on the 25th. 25 pounds in 20 days. I don't feel a lot different.

I went to church yesterday for the first time since my surgery. I was afraid of feeling really conspicuous, but it wasn't weird at all. My branch members are all so loving and supportive. I did wear myself out by the end of the day. My back hurt a lot. It felt like pregnant back. LOL It was good to jump back into things. It was time.

I'm pulling out my Flylady book this morning. (Don't know who Flylady is? Check out www.flylady.net.) I feel the need for some more order in my household and my life. I'm going to get dressed all the way to shoes this morning.

I need to get some walking in. It's hard to with the winter weather, but I need to do it.